VietNamNet Bridge – Some fishermen who were fishing in the waters of Quang Binh province, in central Vietnam, were very surprised to see a cargo ship carrying thousands of tons of goods drifting at sea. At the time of discovery, there was nobody on board.

The ship was discovered by fishermen from Hoang Hoa district of Thanh Hoa province on January 25. After two days, a dozen of fishing ships towed the cargo ship to the shore of Hoang Truong commune, Hoang Hoa district.

Le Van Trinh, captain of the TH 90 425 fishing boat, one of the first who discovered the cargo ship, said at about 13.30h on January 25, when his boat was at 18.07 degrees north latitude, 107.07 east longitude, in the waters of Quang Binh province, he and his sailors found a big cargo ship adrift on the sea, with the name Hai Dong 27 printed on the body. The ship was nearly submerged.

Discovering abnormalities, fishermen called but no one answered. The captain sent some fishermen to climb into the cargo ship to check and they did not find anybody. The floor and the deck were cluttered with supplies and books. Soon after, the fishermen called other ships to come to tow the ship to their hometown commune of Hoang Truong in Thanh Hoa province.

"In the journey of more than 140 nautical miles, each seven fishing boats took turns to tow the ship once because it is very heavy. We moved only about 5 nautical miles per hour", a fisherman said.

Mr. Le Van Hoang, Chairman of Hoang Truong commune said, after receiving reports from the fishermen, the local government had directed the local police and border guard forces to verify the record of this ship and to protect it.

Earlier, the Vietnam News Agency reported that on the night of January 20, the ship Hai Dong 27 of the Hai Dong Co., Ltd. in Hai Phong city, on the way carrying more than 3,000 tons of cargo from Cu Lao Cham to Hai Phong, had its engine room broken in the sea of Quang Binh province. The water overflowed into the vessel. The 13 crew members were fortunately rescued by the Phu Son 26 ship.